The following blog was written by Chris Brinkley, a leader in Renown Ministries. Note the Event section of this website for other information about the Renown Benefit Concert. Spread the word!

The beer has stopped flowing temporarily but the effects continue to reverberate through the once sleepy cotton town of Huntsville. The impact of a man who loves hops and barley but loves Jesus more than anything else continues to amaze me and draw me closer to the one who can make funny paradoxes happen. The ministry of a church with the fortitude to endure criticism to meet in a place where alcohol is brewed. A local ministry that seeks to engage a disinterested culture. These are the workings of a large metropolitan city not a medium size city in northern Alabama. As we watch our great Father continue to draw people to Him, it is great to watch this happen in so many various ways and in various settings. I continue to plead with the Father to grow and expand the impact of Sojourn in our community. God Bless with the new location and continued potential to impact our community for the Great one.

Here is the final part of Billy Claunch’s blog entitled, “Stealing Your Life.”

Part One is here: https://sojournhuntsville.org/blogs/davidthew/2007/01/02/stealing_your_life_part_one
Part Two is here: https://sojournhuntsville.org/blogs/davidthew/2007/01/04/stealing_your_life_part_two
Part Three is here:

How does Proverbs 1:19 sum up for us so much of the teachings of God?

Let’s first look at the Old Testament. From the very beginning we have an example of some people pursuing ill-gotten gain. Eve was deceived by the serpent, led her husband into blatant sin, and both had their lives taken away by the very thing Solomon warns us about.

Part Two from Billy Claunch. Part One is at https://sojournhuntsville.org/blogs/davidthew/2007/01/02/stealing_your_life_part_one

I read this Proverb and thought, “This is so true”. Because it is expensive to own and store “stuff”. I run a business and I know when you embark on a particular project or decision, it costs much, much more than just the “hard cost”. There are ancillary costs that go along with it, labor, storage, depreciation, inventory tracking, etc. Then, there is the opportunity cost of investing the total resources into that item, that could have been better spent on another. Plus, there is huge intellectual capital invested in decision making when you must sort across a large number of items… Let’s look at an example. Let’s say I own 12 sets of bed sheets. These bed sheets have been given to us as gifts or purchased throughout the years. Obviously if there are multiple bed sizes, I need sheets to fit each bed, (although in the same vain I need to see if I am just putting sheets on a bed that someone is sleeping on 2 times per year in the off chance we have a guest)… but let’s assume 2 sizes of beds. The extra sheets must first be stored somewhere. That takes up space on a shelf, most likely inside a closet. That space then must be noted and remembered by all parties who wish to access the sheets at any point in the future. Most likely, there will be different colored sheets, which then gives another decision point of which sheets should be put on which bed, depending on the time of year, or other decorations in the room. Again, most likely, there will be sheets of different thread counts, lending the opportunity for seeking the most comfortable sheets, and potential discomfort created simply from the fact that you have the option to get a potentially more comfortable sheet out of the shelf at any time. Plus, these sheets have to be washed, after they are washed they obviously require folding, and re-stacking into the same shelf, which with time will grow somewhat disorganized and take a re-stacking and possibly re-folding of all the sheets on the shelf. Not that this is a huge deal, but remember, we are trying to get the full scope of the cost of ownership of 12 sets of bed sheets, which, as you can see, is far more than just “having another set of sheets”. It’s expensive!!

As the New Year has begun, invest time in private worship. Joe Thorn has written a great series on Quiet Time. The following is an exerpt from his “What is it good for?” blog.

www.joethorn.net/2006/12/26/the-quiet-time-what-is-it-good-for

“Why is one’s ’quiet time’ important? In his Systematic Theology Wayne Grudem says that sanctification is “a progressive work of God and man that makes us more and more free from sin and like Christ in our actual lives.” That sanctification is God’s work, not ours, is demonstrated through Jesus’ prayer for his people in Jn. 17 when he prays that the Father would sanctify us. More specifically we understand that it is the Holy Spirit using the word of God to bring about real conformity to the image of Christ, the restoration of the imago dei in men (Jn. 17:17; 2 Thess. 2:13). We yearn for this change, or growth, because in a way it is a returning home…

The following is a guest blog from Billy Claunch. He is a C-12 member (www.c12group.com) with Matt Winstead and me. He leads Brindlee Mountain Fire Apparatus, LLC (www.firetruckmall.com). Call them when you are ready to buy a firetruck – you know for the kids. As a successful, local executive he writes about the dangers of materialism.

Proverbs 1:19

“Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the lives of those who get it.” (NIV)

My name is Billy Claunch. I was born in Huntsville, Alabama on August 31, 1976 to two great parents who today still live where I grew up. Today, it’s May 28th, 2006. I am 29 years old, married to Paula for almost 6 years, and father to James for 3 years, and Henry for almost 1. Proverbs 1:19 has been a favorite verse of mine – I like its practicality.